


Passenger Seat

by GrasveBon (AverageUserName)



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Polyamory Negotiations, Polygrumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-09
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-31 06:59:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12676749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AverageUserName/pseuds/GrasveBon
Summary: There were secrets hiding below the surface of his and Arin's friendship, ones Dan had never revealed to anyone, ones he had locked away in the deepest darkest corners of his mind so as to better ignore them.Now, for the first time, he wondered if Arin might have secrets too.





	Passenger Seat

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fan fiction in a verrrrry long while. To put in perspective how long, the last time I wrote fan fiction we still used the terms 'lemon' and 'lime' to describe stories instead of just using a damn rating. I've been really into grump fiction lately, and this was a good little pick-me-up. Short, simple, and sweet. If you couldn't tell already, it was inspired by the song Passenger Seat, by Death Cab for Cutie. So that's the kind of vibe I was going for.

Dan's eyes drifted slowly open as he faded back into consciousness, the groggy confusion of sleeping in a unfamiliar place weighing against his mind like a heavy blanket. He looked slowly around, the dim glow of the console illuminating the interior of Arin's car with a soft blue light. The display read 2:12 AM, and Dan groaned quietly, drawing Arin's attention from the driver's seat. 

"Welcome back, sleepy head," Arin remarked, chuckling as Dan groaned again, louder this time.

Dan grumbled a series of incoherent words vaguely resembling a question, turning to Arin expectantly. Arin quirked an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that in English please?" He retorted, amusement coloring his tone. 

Dan paused, clearing his throat and swallowing against his sleep thick tongue, "How far away are we?" 

Arin smiled, he was still mumbling a bit, as if in his drowsiness he couldn't be bothered to enunciate properly. "About 45 minutes, maybe an hour. You slept through a good two hours of drive time."

Dan nodded slowly, leaning his head against the window, gazing up at the clear night sky. It was so beautiful out here, away from the light pollution of the city. When he left the east coast it was one of the first things he noticed, how much more brilliant the stars seemed here, how much more depth and color the night sky seemed to have. 

Arin watched Dan out of the corner of his eye, his sleep mussed hair tousled every which way, his eyes half-lidded with drowsiness, his lips parted ever so slightly in his focus on an ever-present sky. 

As they drove, Arin noticed a side road, leading off the beaten path, away from streetlights and the meager traffic on the roads. Without a word, he turned, following a gut instinct to be away from man-made light, to follow the tree-lined road away from civilization.

Dan glanced over in confusion as Arin made the turn, clearing his throat to get Arin's attention, "I think you made a wrong turn, buddy," he remarked. 

Arin just grinned in response, "Nah, this is right. Just give it a second." 

Dan shrugged, turning back to gaze once more out the window. As they moved away from the highway, the world seemed to slow, to calm. The only signs of human life were the steady sound of their car and the warm distant glow of light peeking through the curtains of houses far in the distance.

They drove for several minutes, companionable silence filling the space between them. The silence of old bonds, steady and sure, unwavering. The silence of mutual understanding without words. 

They passed the edge of the trendline and Dan sucked in a breath. They were in the midst of an enormous field, no buildings, and no people in sight. Arin finally pulled the car onto the side of the road, turning it off.

Dan glanced at him curiously, but Arin opened the driver's side door wordlessly, moving to lean against the hood of his car. Dan huffed an amused sigh, rolling his eyes and following suit. He watched Arin, whose eyes were fixed on the sky, in silence for a few brief moments.

Dan broke that silence by asking a simple question, "Why are we out here?"

Ar in tore his eyes away from the sky to smile at Dan and simply gestured up, a surprisingly graceful flourish of his hand that drew Dan's eyes up and up and into the kind of scene he thought was reserved exclusively for movies. 

He sucked in a deep breath, eyes going wide, and let it out on a deep chuckle. The night sky loomed above them, a star spangled miracle of blues and purples, against which a twinkling maelstrom of stars stole every thought in Dan's mind, replacing it with sheer awe. 

Arin watched the emotions flicker across Dan's face, smiling to himself. There was nothing that pleased him more than the way Dan's eyes shone with joy in that moment, the way his mouth fell open on a perfect gasp of undiluted astonishment. 

Dan finally recovered enough sense to make words, and even then he simply uttered a few, "This is perfection." 

Arin chuckled, gazing around them before his eyes fell upon Dan once more, his wide grin slipping into something softer, more heartfelt. 

"It is." 

Arin's tone caught Dan's attention, it held something soft and fragile, and as Dan glanced away from the sky he found Arin's eyes staring right into his own, a bright sweetness there that he had very rarely seen expressed so openly. 

Dan felt his face flush with heat and prayed to any and all available gods that it was too dark to tell. There were secrets hiding below the surface of his and Arin's friendship, ones Dan had never revealed to anyone, ones he had locked away in the deepest darkest corners of his mind so as to better ignore them. 

Now, for the first time, he wondered if Arin might have secrets too. 

Dan realized with a start that their eyes had been locked for far too long to be considered typical, and turned his face upward once more. He heard Arin draw a shaky breath, as if he wanted to say something, then let it out on a sigh.

Arin ran shaking fingers through his hair, mind racing with words unsaid, opening and closing his mouth like a gaping fish as he struggled for the words. There were thoughts and feelings that he had left buried for so long, and all of them rushed to the surface in one painful moment. 

He hadn't planned this, but he knew he had to do it now.

Dan tried to distract himself in the stars, imagining their distance from earth, wondering which ones of them had already exploded, died out in a fury of whirling fire and ice and stone.

Arin steeled himself, taking a slow step closer to Dan, then another, until they stood side by side, arms brushing gently with the rhythm of their breathing.

As Dan calmed his nerves, he finally turned back to Arin, who was much closer than he had been a moment before, and carried a look on his face like he had tasted something sour. 

Dan's brow furrowed in confusion and concern, and he placed a hand on Arin's shoulder, drawing Arin's eyes back to his.

"You okay, big cat?"

He reserved that pet name for when Arin was particularly upset, refused to let himself say it every time it crossed his mind to do so, allowed himself this only when he knew Arin could use the moral support.

Arin let out a shaky breath and nodded, meeting Dan's gaze with new resolve. 

"We just need to talk about something."

Dan's stomach started to do backflips, his heart rate picking up, his mind racing from one bad scenario to another. He nodded purely, trying desperately not to let the fear reach his eyes.

Arin seemed to sense his sudden panic anyway, and lifted his hands to Dan's shoulders, squeezing gently, "It's nothing bad, dude, promise. Well, I hope you won't think it's bad"

Dan let out a hysterical giggle at that, mind still racing a mile a minute. 

Arin sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, before clearing his throat to explain.

"I wanted to tell you something about me, first, to kind of set up for this, make it easier to understand. I'm not really sure there's a good way to say this, other than just to say it, so-"

"Jesus fuck Arin you're gonna give me a heart attack so just fucking say it"

The hysteria in Dan's voice was actually frightening Arin, so he soothed his hands across Dan's shoulders and arms gently, "Ok, ok, I was getting there, I just need to tell you that I'm bisexual."

Dan froze, confusion clouding his vision. "Really? That's all? Dude you know I don't care about that shit!"

He sounded indignant, offended that Arin would think of him as the kind of guy who cares about his friends' sexualities that much.

Arin laughed nervously, "I know, but you might care about this next part,"

Dan quirked an eyebrow, as if to say 'try me.'

"I love you. And before you go, 'Aw I love you too buddy,' that's not what I mean. I mean I'm in love with you, and I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen, I really didn't, but you needed to know."

Dan's mouth was suddenly very dry and his tongue felt like lead. He had so many questions, and he forced himself to slow down, ask them one at a time.

"How long?"

Arin sucked in a breath, eyes downcast "Months. Maybe even years."

"Why now?"

Arin's face contorted, and he glanced back up at Dan's stony expression.

"It was eating me alive. I couldn't let it go any more. I didn't plan on telling you tonight, but I knew I needed to do it soon. Now seemed as good a time as any."

Dan nodded slowly, one more question burning in his mind, turning his stomach.

"Does Suzy know?"

Arin looked up, nodded, and smiled wryly, "Actually she was the one who told me I should tell you"

Dan sucked in a breath, "So she's not mad?"

Arin's face twisted in confusion, "No, of course not, she actually-" Arin cut himself off before he said anything stupid.

Dan took a step closer, a slow sense of hope dawning in his chest, untangling his heartstrings with every breath.

"She actually what?"

Arin grimaced, pausing hopelessly, caught in a trap of his own creation.

"She... She said that traditional monogamy is bullshit, and that I should go for it, but I mean we both know that's crazy, you're straight, so that's a dumb idea, right?"

Dan's eyes widened, and he drew on all his courage to respond.

"So, let me just be clear, she said that if anything were to happen between us, she would be ok with it?"

Arin scowled up at Dan, "I mean yeah, but that's not funny dude, I just told you some-"

Dan cut him off by crowding in closer to his personal space, their eyes level and noses almost brushing. Arin could feel the heat of Dan's breath against his face, and couldn't help glancing down to his lips, briefly, before looking back into Dan's eyes, searching for any sign of a joke, of any unsureness Dan might have.

He found none. 

Arin moved closer, the tips of their noses brushing gently together, the swell of Dan's lips grazing Arin's on each exhale. 

Dan closed those last millimeters in one smooth motion, kissing Arin so softly, so gently that Arin felt like he might break.

Dan's eyes slipped shut and he struggled not to fall apart, emotions overtaking him.

He pulled away after a long moment, breathing heavily.

"In case it's not obvious, I love you too. I'm pretty much madly in love with you to be quite honest."

Arin's breath caught in his throat, a swell of emotion overcoming him. He fought it back, but before long a deep sob escaped him, and he found himself pulled into Dan's arms, sobbing into his shoulder as Dan soothed and comforted him, hands gliding across his hair, his shoulders, his back, soft words of love and comfort dripping from Dan's lips as he pressed gentle kisses to Arin's forehead.

As Arin's sobs quieted to a series of soft sniffles, Dan tipped his chin up with two fingers, kissing him sweetly. 

When Dan pulled away, he smiled widely at Arin. "Stay at my place tonight? Tomorrow, we can bring Suzy over and discuss how this is all going to work. I care about you a whole hell of a lot, and I want to do this right."

Arin nodded slowly, regaining his control. "Ok, that sounds good. I'll text her now to let her know I'll be at yours." 

Dan chuckled, "I have a feeling she'll never let us live down the cliche of all this."

Arin laughed in return, "Hey, at least we've got a great story for the grandkids!"

As they climbed back into the car and began making their way toward home, they found their hands drawn together, fingers interlacing above the console. Dan rolled his window down, breathing in the crisp country air and humming a gentle tune to himself, lyrics floating softly through his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, if you got this far, thanks! I'd love to get some feedback, constructive criticism is always great!


End file.
